Some believe that marketing is a critical component to having success in the federal market. Marketing efforts make the public, official buyers and end users aware of your company and your products or services. My definition of marketing includes distributing press releases, advertising, participating in conferences and trade shows, conducting seminars, and employing targeted direct mail, e-mail and fax campaigns.

As a general rule, it's unwise to spend big dollars on marketing when first entering the government marketplace. Remember, the key to success in this market is focusing on target agencies. Marketing tends to take you in the opposite direction. Early in the game, your interest in securing contracts should far outweigh your interest in brand identity.

Marketing works best for large government contractors. Why?

• They have more money.
• They have GSA contracts and other contracting vehicles they can advertise to government end users and buyers.
• They need to let other companies know about their capabilities for teaming purposes.
• They like to get together at conferences and share war stories over cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.

In a limited sense, companies market as a natural byproduct of doing business. Examples include sending out a capabilities brochure to target customers, issuing an occasional press release when there is something significant to report, writing articles for publications, going to local networking breakfasts, and attending or sponsoring charity events. That's not what we're talking about here. These forms of cheap marketing can be effective. What we're saying is be cautious about traveling to out-of-state, multi-day conferences or placing $10,000 ads; the money can be better spent elsewhere.